A few days later, a call came again to General Collin. He had half-expected it. He reached again for the red phone.
"It's happened again!" He bit off his words in his exasperation. "Yes! Right in front of a television monitor. The film is being rushed to Washington." He listened a moment, then nodded. "That's right, just disappeared! Completely dematerialized!"
He received a bit of a shock in turn. "Two other bases also? Good God!" Then, "Yes, sir, I'll fly in to-night."
At the top level meeting the next morning the Under-Secretary of State interrupted the discussion. "We have just received a peculiar message from the British Embassy," he said. "They are asking about the security of—" He lowered his voice even though the room was sound-proof.
Everyone about the table looked soberly at each other.
Security Council meetings became continuous around-the-clock sessions. The top civilian scientists of the country were brought in and the situation explained to them. As one they shook their heads.
A Nobel prize winner in Physics put it flatly. "It is beyond our comprehension, far beyond the state of our knowledge!"
Central intelligence reported daily on the political and scientific activities in key spots of the world. A spurt of high-level meetings in Moscow was noticed and duly reported.
This ominous news was received with a depression bordering on hysteria.